1. Mindful Rest Training: Effects on Substance
Use and Other Health Behaviours
Sarah E.A. Daniels, Marvin Krank, Ph.D.
Cognitions and Substance Use Laboratory, University of British Columbia Okanagan, British Columbia
Methods
28 participants were randomly assigned to an intervention group (Group 1, n=15) or a delayed intervention control group (Group 2, n=13).
Group 1 completed a pre-test and then participated in an MRT session in person. Participants were sent home with an audio recording of the MRT. Two weeks following, participants completed a follow-up survey.
Group 2 completed the same pre-test and follow up survey schedule, but did not participate in the MRT session until after the second survey.
Participants completed the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire, Alcohol Use Disorder Test, Cannabis Use Disorder Test, a two week timeline follow back measure for alcohol and cannabis use, and qualitative self-report measures of MRT efficacy and outcomes rated on a 5-point Likert scale. Sample size limitations did not allow parametric tests to be run.
Sample size and time frame did not allow a detection of difference in use behaviours.
Qualitative data was assessed based on a percentage endorsement rate (responding with “agree” or “strongly agree”).
Introduction
Mindful Rest Training (MRT) is a standardized version of yoga nidra - a practice that systematically combines deep relaxation with mindfulness and awareness practices.
Undergraduate students are at an elevated risk for both chronic stress and problematic alcohol use, which interact to negatively impact physical health, executive function, performance, emotions and social behaviours.
Stress has been positively correlated with problematic substance use. Increased mindfulness acts as a buffer between the experience of stress and subsequent substance use, and facets of mindfulness targeted by yoga nidra such as awareness and non-reactivity have been found to mediate the relationship between stress and substance use.
As MRT focuses on decreasing the physiological and psychological experience of stress while increasing facets of mindfulness, it has the capacity to simultaneously target multiple factors of problematic substance use.
This study examines MRT as a potential intervention for stress and substance use in undergraduate students.
Results
Endorsement rates ranged from 46.66% to 100%.
100% of participants endorsed MRT as a useful tool for relaxation.
80% of participants believed that MRT was a useful practice and they would like to continue using the recording of MRT on their own time.
No MRT outcome statement had a mean response level below 3, “neither agree nor disagree”.
The statements “MRT can help me make more deliberate decisions rather than reacting” and “MRT helped me to think more critically about decisions” were the only statements with an endorsement rate below 50%.
Participants see MRT as a useful tool to help make changes in their life (60%) and behaviour patterns (66.66%).
Discussion
High endorsement of MRT as a useful practice and a desire to continue to use MRT indicates that MRT may hold potential as an intervention with undergraduate students.
MRT appears to successfully negate stress as 100% of participants endorsed the practice as a tool to help them relax.
MRT appears to successfully increase the awareness aspect of mindfulness as both internal and external awareness statements were highly endorsed.
Ongoing data collection to increase the sample size will permit quantitative analysis.
Future studies should increase the study length and add additional points of measurement to allow for a growth curve analysis assessing the efficacy of MRT over time.
MRT shows promise as a potential intervention to target stress, substance use, and changes in other health behaviours in undergraduate students.
Acknowledgements:
Jaicee Payette, lab volunteer
Dr. Marvin Krank, supervisor
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Poster presented at the IKBSAS Undergraduate Research Conference, Kelowna, BC, April 7, 2017